Web startup Groupon is the latest online company believed to be seeking investment funding through an initial public offering (IPO).

      The speculation follows reports that Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein visited the Chicago headquarters of the startup last week to discuss a possible sale of shares in Groupon.

      The past few months have seen growing interest in online technology startups among investors.

      Goldman Sachs led a $2bn (£1.26bn) investment in Facebook last week, in a deal that values the social networking site at $50bn (£31.45bn).

      Further, both Skype and corporate networking site LinkedIn are reported to be raising investment and moving towards IPOs this year.

      A source familiar with the Groupon matter confirmed to Bloomberg that Goldman Sachs hopes to win the bid to handle a sale for Groupon.

      Morgan Stanley is also in talks with Groupon to arrange an IPO, the source confirmed.

      The startup that offers daily retail discounts to users over the internet last week announced a round of funding said to value it at $4.75bn ($2.98bn).

      If the IPO goes ahead it is predicted its value may jump to $15bn (£9.43bn).

Source from computing.co.uk